The medical social worker provides home care services to Kaiser Permanente patients in community based and facility settings. This position may provide social services to patients in the home health, hospice, home infusion, palliative care, or other programs under the direction of
the patient's physician(s) to provide quality health care outcomes and facilitate the achievement of maximum independence of the patient utilizing health care resources within Kaiser Permanente and the community. This care is provided through coordinating the delivery of high quality, cost-effective, skilled, rehabilitative or palliative care as part of an interdisciplinary team.
Essential Functions:
- Provides social work services consistent with agency policy, state practice acts, and applicable state and federal regulations as directed by the patient's physician. Activities include assessment of social and emotional factors related to the patient's illnesses, financial and community resources and patient safety.
- Develops and implements an individualized care plan, utilizing department and community resources in a cost effective manner.
- Actively participates in multidisciplinary care planning to facilitate coordination of care.
- Assures personal competency through maintaining working knowledge of current social work practice, available community services, member benefits and resources and regulatory standards.
- Utilizes Kaiser Permanente Continuing Care Services departmental and community resources in a cost-effective manner. Consults with other interdisciplinary team members and shares social work expertise and perspective.
- Actively participates in quality management and quality improvement activities within the department including, but not limited to, clinical record review, occurrence reporting, focused studies, process and outcome measurement, peer review and continuous quality improvement projects.
Qualifications:
Basic Qualifications:
- A minimum of 1 years of experience in a health care setting
- Master's degree in social work
- License in Oregon (Licensed Clinical Social Worker or Licensed Master of Social Work) & Washington (Washington Counselor Agency Affiliated Registration). Requires license in primary state, (Oregon or Washington) prior to first day of employment. Application for licensure in secondary state must be made within six (6) weeks of start date. Licenses in both states required within six (6) months of hire.
- Basic Life Support CPR card for Health Care Provider. Valid card must be obtained prior to patient contact & within two weeks of hire.
- Valid driver's license
- Medical terminology
- The psychosocial impact of specific illnesses
- How to perform a mental status exam
- Keyboarding or typing skills (this position requires completion of a typing test)
- Able to learn to operate a laptop computer to perform clinical documentation
- NPI
- Note: This position requires a reliable automobile to travel to & from patient homes.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Previous work in a medical setting
- Experience with interdisciplinary team function
- A minimum of 1 year of experience as a medical social worker in a home care setting
- Have obtained a certification as a licensed clinical social worker in Oregon State
- Working knowledge of the managed care industry, Medicare regulations/requirements
- Excellent time management, problem solving & customer service skills
- Excellent written & verbal communication skills
- Kaiser Permanente & community resources
- Knowledge about Family dynamics
- Knowledge about the dying process
- Able to work autonomously & manage patient case load
- Operational knowledge of computerized clinical documentation & office application systems including the use of laptop/notebook computers
- Principles of documentation
- Counseling skills
- Ability to make accurate assessments of psychosocial needs
Salary Range:
$30.96 - $42.88
External hires must pass a background check/drug screen.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.